Timon & Pumbaa: Times of change
by bdlywrttn
Summary: Final Chapter up! Things are changing at Pride Rock and in Timon and Pumbaa's jungle. Timon will have to decide if he really wants them to. Takes place between LK 1 & a half and 2. New person, be gentle!
1. That Hakuna Matata Thing

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Lion King or it's characters, Disney does. I do own one though, the one I made up._

The sun was shining for the first time in days over Africa. It had been raining for some time, but the animals that lived in the lush, green jungle outside the pride lands had barely noticed. The beautiful trees and plants kept them protected from the rain as well as the sun. These particular animals were a strange bunch to find in a jungle, a group of meerkats had somewhat-recently migrated into the area. Even though the jungle provided protection from predators, and a wide array of insects for food, most of the colony still woke with the sun out of habit.

One meerkat, however, as the sun rose high to signal midday, was still fast asleep.

"Timon. Timon! Will you get up? You've been sleeping all day!" Timon's mother said as she shook her son slightly to wake him.

As Timon slowly opened his eyes he groggily whined, "Ma, we don't have to get up early if we don't want to anymore!" Then he turned over so his back was facing his mother.

"Well that may be." Timon heard his mother say. "But still, every day is worth enjoying. Plus everyone else has been up for ages." Timon's mom waited patiently but Timon didn't move, he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. "Honey, don't make me push you."

Push him. What was she talking about? But he suddenly realized too late. His mother gave him a quick push on his back, and he lost balance and tumbled out of his hammock. All Timon could do while lying face-first on the ground was wonder why in the world he had chosen to sleep in the hammock.

"Alright, Ma." He said as he slowly stood and dusted himself off. "You got me up. Now what?" Timon's mom smiled as her son blinked in the light of the sun as they entered an open spot in the jungle where the crystal clear lake rested.

"Just what I said, didn't you listen? You shouldn't sleep half the day away. Even if you don't need to." His mom stated matter-of-factly. "It's bad for you, and you'll be up all night." Timon rolled his eyes, sometimes it really seemed his mother loved to worry.

"Well Ma, if you think about it, the day might not be "half over" maybe it's "half begun"". Timon's mom did not seem to get the joke, so he just ignored it. "Ma, I really think you worry too much. I'm fine, your fine, the whole meerkat colony is fine. Just remember the whole "Hakuna Matata" thing Pumbaa and I are always talking about. Huh?"

As they reached the bank of the lake, they saw the other meerkats milling about, swimming and running, with some resting in the shade or grabbing bugs, then Timon noticed that Pumbaa was nowhere in sight. "Where is Pumbaa, anyway?" Timon said half to his mom, half to himself. But then, to their right, hey heard a rustling in the bushes, and Pumbaa bounded out with the remains of a mud bath still noticeable on his hair. As he made his way towards them, Timon said, "Isn't it strange how when you ask where someone is they suddenly appear?" to no one in particular.

"Hey Timon, hi Ms. Timon's mom!" Pumbaa greeted them when he had reached them. Now that he was closer, it was even more noticeable that he had just come from a mud bath, and his tail stood straight up and was wagging a little like a dog. "I have some good news! That bossy bird that helps out Simba came to tell us that Simba is coming to visit us with news!"

"So…", Timon said, a little confused. "That bird came to you with news that Simba was coming with news?"

"Yup." Pumbaa answered.

"Ok…..that's….great! Did he say when Simba was getting here?" Timon asked.

"Um, no. But I bet soon, it doesn't take too long to get here from Pride Rock, does it?" said Pumbaa.

"Well, I'm not really sure. I bet not long, but in the meantime what can we do around here?" Timon said. Timon's mom looked at him.

"Timon, are you bored? Already?" she said.

"No." Timon answered back. "Well, yeah kinda." Then Timon's mom brightened up.

"Well, if your wanting something to do I can think of some things I'd like you to…"

"Oh, wait, you know what?" Timon interrupted. "I just remembered that Pumbaa wanted to do something today, didn't ya buddy?" He gave Pumbaa a look that meant "play along"

. It took Pumbaa a second, but then he finally said, "Um, uh, Oh yeah! We were gonna,……. go over there!" and he pointed over to where he had come from in the bushes. Timon's mom looked suspiciously at them, but then smiled

. "Ok, well, you have fun." Then with that, Timon and Pumbaa dashed off in the exact opposite direction Pumbaa had indicated.

"Thanks buddy." Timon said once they were out of his mom's sight. "I really like getting out before she gets me doing stuff."

"But you would help if she really needed you , right?" Pumbaa asked as they walked through all the trees and colorful plants.

"Yeah I guess." Timon answered. "But I don't want to be stuck doing stuff if I figure out what I really want to do."

"Well, what do you want to do Timon?"

"To be honest, pal, I dunno. Lately I've been feeling like something should be happening, but it hasn't yet."

"Like what?"

"That's the other thing. I'm not sure. But I'm sure I'll know what it is when it happens. But I'm sorry t get all weird on ya Pumbaa. Lets go look for that tree we found the other day that had all those beetles"

Pumbaa agreed, but as they were walking Pumbaa thought about what his friend had said. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like something should or was going to happen. But rather than anxious, like Timon, Pumbaa felt nervous. But He supposed that it couldn't be anything too bad.

They entered a clearing and began looking for the tree they had found earlier. When they did find it they searched around for the delicious insects they had found the last time. Timon spotted a large purple and red beetle and was reaching for it when a rock hit him squarely on his head. He looked up at Pumbaa quizzically, but before he could say anything more rocks were bombarding them, raining down from up in the tree.

When it finally stopped, they heard a voice from up in the branches call out, "You know, when someone throws things at you, the polite thing to do would be to leave."

Timon looked over at Pumbaa, then back up at the tree. They were, to say the least, confused. "Why should we leave?" Timon called up.

"Because." The voice called back. "This is my tree, and the bugs in it are mine too."

Timon was getting annoyed now. "What makes this _your _tree, or your bugs?"

"Because it just is. It is _my_ tree and those are _my_ bugs. So just scram, ok? Its not like there aren't other trees or other bugs."

"Timon. Maybe we should just go over to another tree." Pumbaa said, but Timon just waved his hand and shook his head.

"No, no, no, Pumbaa. We're not going anywhere! This is a free jungle! Come down here and tell me this is your tree!"

"Ugh, fine." Timon and Pumbaa heard as they saw a small figure jump down from the tree and walk out. A petite young female meerkat stood in front of them, her green eyes were narrowed, looking considerably peeved. "This is _my_ tree, ok?" she said slowly, so they would get it.

"Again, I ask, what makes it _your_ tree?" Timon said, just as peeved. "Do ya live here or something?"

"Yeah." she fired back sounding somewhat sarcastic.

Pumbaa didn't want to get into this conversation, but what she had just said made him ask, "You live here?"

The female meerkat looked over to Pumbaa. "Yes." she answered.

"But why?" Pumbaa couldn't help asking, "This area is so far away from the others, don't you want to stay with everyone?"

"No." She said. She looked down as she said this, it was obvious this was not a subject she wanted to discuss. "I don't." Then she looked back over at Timon. "I want to live in _my_ tree."

Timon paused for a second, then said, "Ok, maybe it is your tree, but just because there are bugs in the tree, how does that make them yours?"

"If they're not mine they're not anyone's. Which means they're also not yours. So just go find another tree, I'm sure there are even more bugs somewhere else."

Timon rose up, about to say something, but then thought better of it. "Fine, you know what? Its probably not even worth it!" Then he turned and started to stomp away. "Come on, Pumbaa. Leave her precious tree! Gotta leave the stupid tree!"

He continued to grumble under his breath as he passed Pumbaa. Before Pumbaa followed he turned back towards the other meerkat.

"Nice to meet you!"

Then he turned back and followed Timon, leaving the female with a triumphant look on her face as she began to climb back up the tree.


	2. Simba's News

_Author's note: I know this chapter is shorter then ch. 1, but I wanted what happens in this chapter and what happens in the next one to have seperate chapters. I hope that made sense. :-)_

Ch. 2

The next day Timon was still a little mad about their encounter with that female in the tree. They had left and found their food in another area, but the image of her still stuck in his mind. She had been on Pumbaa's mind as well, although he had felt sympathy rather than anger. Why was she all alone? Did she ever leave her tree, or did she never associate with anyone? That seemed to Pumbaa to be an awfully lonely way to live. But she was pushed from both of their minds with the arrival of Simba later in the day.

Pumbaa and Timon were all down at the lake when Simba arrived. Pumbaa, after he had dried off from being in the water, was the first to spot him. "Hey, Look Timon, it's Simba!" "Hey guys!" Simba called as he walked up. Timon and Pumbaa rushed to greet him. "Hey Simba. What took ya so long? We've been waiting all day for you." Timon said jokingly as they all greeted each other. "Ah, you know I'm kidding."

"So Simba, how have you been?" Pumbaa asked as they all settled down from the excitement of their reunion. "That bird guy told us you had news."

"Where is that bird guy anyway?" Timon asked. "I'd think he would've given you some kind of "royal introduction" or something.

Simba laughed at this." Well, he was really tired from his trip here yesterday, so I let him stay behind. But about the news. I wasn't able to come right when it happened, of course. I had to stay with Nala, but it's only been a week, and it's still really amazing..."

"Will you just tell us already? Stop keeping us in suspense." Timon said slightly exasperated.

"Ok, last week Nala gave birth to a cub. I'm a father!" This really surprised Timon and Pumbaa.

"Wow!" said Pumbaa. "Congratulations! This is great!"

"Yeah, it is!" Timon agreed. "Man, you a dad, I never would have guessed it!"

"I'm glad you guys are excited, the cub's presentation is in about two weeks, it's still too young to come out into the open. But when we hold it's presentation, I'd really want you guys to be there"

"Well, of course we're going to be there!" said Timon. "How in the world could we miss that?"

"Yeah, seeing a little cub Simba, or Nala. Hey Simba, is it a boy or girl cub?" asked Pumbaa.

Simba smiled. "Now that I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to find out when you come."

They spent the rest of the day walking around the jungle. Reminiscing about when it was just the three of them, and trying to get Simba to tell them if the cub was male or female. Simba still wouldn't spoil it for them but Timon and Pumbaa silently thought that it had to be a boy. A tiny Simba Jr. for them to help teach the all-important philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" to.

When the sun had started to go down Simba had to leave so he would be back home to help Nala with the cub my morning. They said their goodbyes and Timon and Pumbaa were left, after Simba had gone, with their thoughts.

After sitting for a little while in silence, Timon thought out loud, "You know, it's kind of strange to think about, Simba with a cub, you know?"

"Yeah." Pumbaa agreed.

"Kind of makes me feel a little old."

"Me too."

"Oh, neither of you are old." Came Timon's mom's voice from behind them, "If you two are old then what does that make me?"

This remark broke them from their thought to realize that it was getting a little late. They said goodnight and Timon's mom followed Timon back to his sleeping area. He had been getting comfortable in his nest (since the other day he made a point not to sleep in the hammock) when his mom had caught up with him. "Timon, I know it's late, but if you can remember I'd like you to do something for me tomorrow."

Timon had been falling asleep as she was talking and didn't really hear her but agreed to it anyway. "...Yeah...ok...whatever Ma." "Oh good." Timon's mom said happily. "Well, I'll see you in the morning then, goodnight Honey."


	3. Setting Up Timmy

The next day dawned and Timon had already forgotten that his mother had even talked to him the night before, let alone that he had promised something. So when his mom found him and Pumbaa as they were returning from a successful hunt for bugs he had no idea what she wanted.

"There you are, I've been looking for you." She said. "Timon, do you remember what I asked you last night?"

Timon looked confused, he shook his head. "No Ma. What?"

"I asked you to do something for me today, and you agreed."

"I did? Was I about to go to sleep? Oh, No one should ever ask me things when I'm about to go to sleep!"

"That doesn't matter. I asked and you agreed. Now, I'd like you to come with me."

Timon couldn't think of any way out. He was stuck. He was sure she had intentionally waited until he was about to sleep to ask him whatever it was, but he couldn't undo it. He sighed and said "Yeah, ok Ma. I'll be along in a minute."

Timon's mom smiled and began to walk away. Timon turned to Pumbaa. "Sorry about this." He said.

"It's ok." Pumbaa said. "I'll be fine on my own. Plus maybe it won't be so bad."

Timon sighed again and waved then followed his mom over to a rock just between the bank of the lake and the edge of the trees. They both sat down on the rock and Timon's mom began to speak.

"Alright. Now Honey, I know you probably won't like this, and you'll say it's not my place, But I have a very nice friend that I would like you to meet."

"Um...ok." Timon said. This was what she wanted? It didn't seem that critical. Why would he think it wasn't her place to introduce him to...wait. He began to look suspicious.

"Wait." he said. "Ma, are you trying to set me up with a female?"

His mother looked down. "Well, sort of." she answered.

Timon began to stand up. "No! Uh-uh! No way! Ma, I do not want a mate! I thought we had talked about this. I'm not ready. I'm not even looking for one!"

"Well, maybe you should start." Timon's mom said as she sat her son back down on the rock. "I happen to think you are ready."

"Well I don't." Timon said this while he turned and sat back down so he wasn't facing his mom.

Timon's mom sighed. "Will you please just meet her? She is very nice and sweet. I just want you to be happy Timmy"

Timon smiled. She hadn't called him "Timmy" in a while. He knew that she had best interests at heart and everything, but he really didn't want to be looking for a mate. At least not now. Still, she wouldn't push this hard for a girl if she didn't believe the girl was worth it.

"I guess." He finally said. Timon's mom brightened up and hugged him. "There's no harm in just meeting her. But I'm not promising anything."

"That's fine. I just want you to meet her, spend some time with her. Her name is Myla and she is very nice. You can go on with what you were doing while I go find her. We can meet up back here later. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Timon answered. He still couldn't believe he was agreeing to this. It was one thing having to look for a potential mate, but when your mom sets you up with one?

After he had left his mom, Timon found Pumbaa pushing over a log with his tusks. Finding a whole assortment of bugs, they enjoyed their meal as he told Pumbaa what his mom had wanted.

"...and now I've gotta go back there later today to meet her and Ma." Timon finished.

Pumbaa looked up from the bugs at his friend. "Well Timon, I don't really see the problem. Your mom is helping you maybe find love. I sometimes hope that one day I might find love."

"But why, Pumbaa?" Timon said, dropping the large millipede that he was holding. "Why? I mean, females, mating, love. All of that brings change, and before you know it everything is different. I mean, look at Simba, he's got Nala and now we barely ever see him anymore."

"But Timon, Simba also is a king. So he is probably very busy, and anyways he loves Nala. Plus the way I think of it, if Simba and Nala hadn't been reunited, then Simba, you , and I would have never gone to Pride Rock. Then you wouldn't have run into your mom and your Uncle Max. Then you wouldn't have brought all of the meerkats here, and we wouldn't all be living here happily right now. So, in a way, Simba and Nala's love sort of saved your meerkat colony."

Timon thought for a moment about the surprisingly wise thing Pumbaa had just said. "Well Pumbaa, you might have a point... somewhere in there."

"Thanks, I try."

"But it also proves that stuff like this brings change."

"But maybe Timon, maybe this is the thing you thought would happen."

"Maybe, who knows? Well, I guess I would, but never mind. I shouldn't even worry about it. I'll meet her and she'll probably be weird and dumb and lick frogs or something." Timon laughed at his own joke as he searched for the millipede he had dropped.

They continued their fun of bug-eating, all the while Pumbaa thought of Timon's situation. Whatever he said to the contrary, Pumbaa believed that deep down Timon did want to find love. Maybe deep, deep, deep down, _way_ down, but still it was there. For some reason he didn't seem to trust it. But then he thought he shouldn't dwell on it if Timon wasn't worried about it.

The time finally came for Timon to leave and meet up with his mom and her friend. He waved bye to Pumbaa once again and went to wait at the rock he and his mother were at earlier. Apparently he was early, so he sat down and waited for them, thinking all the time about how ridiculous this seemed. He had pretty much made up his mind that whoever his mom had picked for him would not be a good potential mate for him. It wouldn't be his mom's fault of course, just he had made up his mind. There was this nagging thought in the back of his mind, however, what if he did like her? "Nope, not gonna happen!" he thought, but it persisted. Fortunately his mom showed up so he could stop wondering.

Timon stood up as she came up, he guessed that he should stand. He didn't see this "friend" of his mom's yet.

"Hi." His mom said when she stopped in front of him. "Timon, are you ready?"

Timon sighed, "Yeah, I guess" He looked at his mom, then behind her, but he still didn't see anyone. "Uh, Ma, where is she?"

Timon's mom looked behind her, not seeing anyone either. "Well, she was right behind me. Oh, here she comes!" she said as they both saw a figure coming towards them. Once she had come up to them, Timon's mom introduced them.

"Timon, this is Myla. Myla, this is my son Timon."

Timon looked at Myla, she was petite and looked young, maybe slightly younger than him, but it was her shining green eyes that made him recognize her.

"Hey, you're the tree girl with the rocks!"

Myla had obviously just realized who he was too. "You're the jerk with the warthog friend who came around my tree!"

"Excuse me, "jerk?"" Timon said. "All I did was come around to look for food, and you yelled and threw rocks at us, who's the jerk here? huh?"

"Well, if you had left the first time I hit you with the rocks I wouldn't have had to yell!"

"You could have just told us to leave, but no!"

"Uh, I believe I did that, and you still stuck around!"

"Yeah ya did, _after_ you threw the rocks!"

"Oh will you just shut up abut the stupid rocks!"

"Maybe I will when you apologize!"

"Oh no, I'm not the one who needs to apologize here!"

"Well, I certainly don't need to!"

After Timon said this Myla turned to Timon's mom. "I'm sorry Kavie, I really am. But I don't think this is gonna work out. I'm out of here." With that, she turned around and angrily ran off through the thick plants and trees.

"Well," Timon's mom said, "That did not go well. But Timon, you need to go after her."

"What? Why?" Timon said.

"Because you promised you would talk with her."

"I just did!"

"No, that was shouting, go and actually talk to her."

"Ma, is it my fault she ran off? She probably figured out I was right and left out of embarrassment. Well, good riddance."

Timon's mom slapped her hand to her head and sighed. "Timon, sometimes I think you can be too proud for your own good. Now, go after her, let whoever needs to apologize do it, then bury the hatchet, ok?"

Timon deflated a little. "Ugh, fine. But I'm not the one who needs to apologize."

"I'm not going to get into that with you Honey, just go on."

Then with that Timon reluctantly began to go in the direction Myla had gone.

_Author's Note: I would really like to thank maudiebeans for proofreading these past chapters, and helping me make up a name for Timon's mom. :-) (Unless she's like Nala's mom and has a name that no one says, I don't think she has one) Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the story. I think this might be one of my favorite chapters._


	4. Not So Bad

It was a little while before Timon had caught up with Myla, so by the time he got to the clearing where her tree was she was already hidden within the branches.

"Go away." He heard her call. She apparently could see him even though he couldn't see her.

"Now don't start throwing rocks again." he called up to her as he inched closer to the tree. "I come in peace."

"Why did you follow me? Did your mom make you?"

"Um...no."

"Ugh, you're pathetic."

"Oh, _I'm_ pathetic!"

"Yeah. I'm glad you admit it."

"Oh, that's really mature. Will you just come down?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're a jerk!"

"Well, I'm sorry!" That had just slipped out, Timon wasn't really even thinking.

"What?" Myla asked.

"I'm, I'm sorry." He couldn't believe he had said that. He still didn't feel he had done anything that warranted an apology. But amazingly, the next thing he knew Myla was climbing down in front of him.

"I don't think you meant that." She said as she straightened up.

"Look, can we just talk?" Timon said, ignoring her last words. He knew he hadn't really meant the apology he had given, but there was no way he was going to tell her that.

They stood there for a moment before either one said anything.

"Ok, fine." Myla said finally. "What do you want to talk about?"

Timon went closer to her tree and looked up at her to make sure he could. She didn't say anything so he slowly sat down on one of the roots.

"Well, how do you know my Ma?"

Myla sat down on another root and looked over at her tree, then back at Timon. "I was sort of kicked out of my old colony. I didn't really fit in. But when I came to this new one it wasn't much better. They let me in but I was still a stranger so everybody avoided me. No matter what I did, they just made it feel like I couldn't do anything right."

"Heh, I know how that feels." He thought as he listened to her.

"Kavie, your mom, was the only one who befriended me. She really helped me a lot. Of course I know pretty much all about you from her. She treated me to "1001 stories about my Timon", it was sweet. Most of them about how you had gone off to find your dream, and that if I ever could that I should do the same. She really worried about you, though. Then she and your uncle went looking for you and I stayed put. Until you came back and brought everyone here, of course."

"Yeah, That sounds like my Ma. But, why did you get kicked out of your old colony?"

"I don't really know you well enough to tell you that." she answered. "It's kind of personal, it's also kind of why I like living in my tree, away from everyone else." Then she changed the subject. "Now let me ask you something."

"Alright."

"Your mom said that you didn't fit in, and you went to find your place. But after you found it, why did you bring everyone here?"

"Well, because I sort of learned something in finding it. I mean, I didn't really learn it on my own, Pumbaa and my other friend Simba helped, but I learned that I could have found the most perfect and wonderful place imaginable, but it wouldn't really be home unless I had my friends to share it with. They're kind of what makes a real home."

"Even though no one in the colony really liked you except your mom and uncle?"

"Heheh, well yeah."

"Hmm. I understand, it was sort of a "look beyond what you see" sort of thing."

"Uh, exactly."

"Huh, I guess you're not _that_ much of a jerk after all." Myla said. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking down and sort of far off, like she was thinking. But a small smile graced her face.

"Well, I am sorry about that."

"Now that time I think you meant it." She looked up at him, her smile had grown, it was now undeniably a smile. "And I'm sorry I threw rocks at you and your friend."

Now they both smiled. Neither of them had said that their argument was stupid. Neither one wanted to be the one to say that. But they both had at least apologized, and that was a start.

"Well, uh," Timon stood up to leave, a little nervous. "Thanks for coming down and talking to me."

"You're um, welcome" said Myla. She paused for a moment. Then, breaking eye contact with Timon turned and began to climb up her tree.

"Um," Timon said. Myla turned back around. "If you want to meet my friend Pumbaa, we could come by tomorrow."

"Ok." Myla said. Then she climbed back up the tree. Timon watched her tail disappear into the leaves. "Huh," he thought.

"She's really... wait. No! No, no no. Shake it off! She is ok, that's all. Maybe we can be friends, but that's it"

He then cleared his mind and walked back out where he found that his mom was still waiting for him. When she spotted him, she rushed over.

"So, how did it go?" she asked expectantly.

"It was...ok." he answered.

"So it was the same female meerkat from the other day?" Pumbaa asked. Right when Timon got up the next day Pumbaa found him to ask him how everything had went after Timon had left.

"Yeah." Timon said. "She was still mad for some reason, too. But I guess it was fine. We talked and she's ok. Pretty stubborn, though."

"Are you gonna see her again?" Pumbaa asked.

"Heh heh, funny you should mention that. Because I said we'd come visit her today." Timon answered nervously. He didn't want Pumbaa to get the wrong idea. He looked over at Pumbaa and sure enough, he was giving Timon one of those "awww" smirks. "But don't read too much into it. I just thought she would want to meet you in a better way then she did the first time, and don't smile like that. It gives me the creeps."

Pumbaa couldn't help it. This was a good sign, Timon going back to see her. Sure he was going too, but it was still a great opportunity for them to interact. It wasn't all going to be about Timon, though. He did want to meet this nice girl meerkat again, a new friend was always a good thing to Pumbaa.

After Timon had successfully gotten Pumbaa to stop with the weird look, they headed to Myla's tree, this time remembering where it was. Once they arrived they saw Myla as she jumped down from a low branch of the tree.

"Hi" Myla said rather quickly as they came up to her.

"Hi" Timon said. "You came down awful fast, were you waiting for us?"

"Uh, no. I just...heard you coming." She said. Then she changed the subject. "So, this is Pumbaa?"

"Oh, yeah. This is my best friend, Pumbaa. Pumbaa, this is Myla." Timon said.

"Well, we've met before, but these are better circumstances. Hi Myla." Pumbaa greeted her, shaking her paw with his hoof.

"Hi Pumbaa, it's nice to meet you. Yeah I guess this is better, though you were nice to me the last time we met even though I wouldn't let you around my tree." She said.

"Speaking of which," Timon interrupted. "Since we've all gotten better acquainted, how about you let us have some of the bugs in your tree, huh?" This made everyone laugh, especially Myla.

"Ha ha ha ha ha...no." she said, suddenly stopping her laughter and looking serious.

"Hey, don't get mad, I was just kidding." Timon said. "Pumbaa and I found this great log yesterday with a bunch of great bugs. We'll probably go over there later."

"Maybe we should go over there now, Timon." Pumbaa said. "Myla, would you want to come with us?"

Myla looked hesitant. "Well, I don't really like going too far from my tree. Plus you guys might have more fun without me."

"Oh no, you're really nice. We'd love to have you eat with us, right Timon?"

"Uh, yeah." Timon said, looking over at Pumbaa. Was Pumbaa working with his mom now on trying to set him up? Still, Myla was showing herself to be not-so-mean and everything to him. Maybe he could get to talk with her a little more as well, for some reason he really liked talking to her. He looked back over at her. "Come on, Myla."

Myla looked surprised at Timon's addition to the invitation. "Ok." she answered.

"As long as you leave the rocks here, of course." Timon said. This made Myla laughed a little.

They reached the log Pumbaa had pushed over the day before. There were still many bugs under and inside it. All three of them grouped around the log and prepared for lunch.

"Oh, boy! There are still a lot of millipedes left!" Pumbaa exclaimed happily. "They don't have wings, but they're the best of the bugs that don't."

"Yeah, I think it's the legs" Timon said as he reached for one. "That's what makes them the best, pal."

As Timon and Pumbaa were digging in to the contents of the log Pumbaa noticed that Myla wasn't eating anything.

"What's the matter, Myla?" he asked.

Myla looked a little wary. "I don't really like millipedes." she said.

"What?" Timon asked, looking stunned. "You don't like millipedes?"

"No."

"Have you ever tried them?"

"Um, no."

"Then how do you know you don't like them?"

"What is the big deal?"

"They're really good!"

"They're just bugs!"

"Yeah, really good bugs!" Timon then picked one up and held it out. "Try one."

"I'll pass."

"Will you just try one?"

"No, I don't see the big deal."

"The big deal is that they're good. Just try one."

"I'm not hearing a "please""

"Ok, fine. "Please" try one"

"No, Thank you."

"Myla! Come on!"

"Ugh, fine." Myla said, grabbing the millipede from him. "You're such a baby."

"I'm not a baby." Timon said defensively.

Then Myla bit into the millipede. "Huh, this is actually good. You were right."

"What was that?" Timon asked, not believing what she'd just said.

"You were right." Myla repeated.

"Alright! I was right! Pumbaa, did you hear that? She said I was right!" Timon said excitedly. Timon did like to be right, especially when Myla had seemed to be right about their first meeting (although there is no way he's admit it) and his mom may have been right about Myla.

_Author's Note: I'm not sure how to add breaks between the sections of the chapter, if the story seems smushed, I'm sorry._


	5. Maybe

_Author's Note: It has come to my attention that the last chapter may have been a dud. Since no one really seemed thrilled by it. So hopefully this chapter will make up for it._

During the next two days Myla accompanied Timon and Pumbaa when they were out and about. She would, sometimes, be talking with Timon's mother but she would just tell Myla to go with them if they invited her. She wasn't always sure if she should go, but it seemed that they did want her around. She did enjoy having them as friends, even if she hadn't opened up that much to them. She enjoyed Pumbaa's warmth and honest nature, and Timon, even though he seemed to love arguing with her, he did always make jokes. Though some of them weren't funny, the fact that he seemed to care about his friends and make them laugh was endearing to her.

Late in the afternoon saw the three resting after just having finished a meal. Pumbaa and Timon had been telling Myla more about Simba and there adventure with him.

"But, even after all of that, he still is our friend." Pumbaa finished. "And now he and Nala have a cub, who will be the next lion king."

"Yeah, and he'll be just like his dad." Timon said. "Speaking of which Pumbaa, you think that bird guy will come back and tell us when to come for that presentation thing?"

'Well, maybe soon. He might even be here already. Can we go look, Timon?"

"Well, I guess we could." It didn't sound that interesting to Timon, but it was something to do when he was feeling a bit bored and he did want to know when they should leave.

"Myla, do you want to come with us?" Pumbaa asked as he sat up.

Myla sat up and stretched a little, she had been sitting for a while. "No, thanks Pumbaa." She said. "I think I'll just go back to my tree."

Timon looked over at her. It was weird, he actually felt a little disappointed that she wasn't going to come. "Well, we could walk you back, if ya wanted."

"Oh, ok." Myla said looking at Timon, slightly surprised. He had never actually offered to walk her back before. True it was both of them, but still it was different.

"Oh, Myla! You guys can ride on my back this time." Pumbaa said happily.

"No, that's ok, Pumbaa. I can walk" Myla said.

"No, really. It's ok. Timon rides on my back all the time."

"You actually like having animals on your back?"

"Well, no. Just Timon. But you can too."

"That sounds ok. Come on, Myla. We're pretty far from your tree and this way will be faster." Timon said as he hopped up on Pumbaa's back.

Myla hesitated. Even though Pumbaa said it was fine, she wasn't sure. But Timon was already up there and Pumbaa looked ready to go, she had no choice but to jump up on his back in the gap between Timon and Pumbaa's back mane.

"I would hang on to something." Timon told her. He reached around her and grabbed hold of Pumbaa's hair and Myla imitated.

Just as Timon had thought, Pumbaa did not start off slow. As soon as they had grabbed on, Pumbaa bounded off almost as quick as he could. He jumped over logs and small plants and sped around trees with eager speed. The combination of the speed and the bumping had caused Timon to bump into Myla a few times, but they still hung on. Myla had gotten over shock of when they had first started off and was now enjoying the ride. They were obviously showing her some fun, as well as getting her back fast, and she appreciated that.

After a few more minutes of speeding through the jungle, Pumbaa slowed down and stopped bounding, then came to a stop almost directly under Myla's tree.

"Ok, here we are." said Pumbaa. "Everybody alright?"

"I'm fine, Pumbaa." Timon said as he hopped down.

"Ok, that was fun." Myla said as she was trying to swing her leg over to the same side as the other one.

Timon noticed that she was having some trouble. "Uh, do ya need some help?" he asked.

Myla, still struggling with her leg, didn't even look over at Timon. "No, no...I've...I've got this."

"All you've got to do is swing you're leg over."

"That's...what I'm trying...to do. It's harder...for some of us."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that hard."

"Oh, don't make me feel more dumb. Just let me do this." She finally kicked her leg over with a hard swing, but it also knocked her off balance and she spun and fell off. Just then Timon, not even thinking, reached out and caught her.

They were all frozen for a second. Timon looking down at Myla, Myla looking up at Timon, Pumbaa looking at both of them. Then, very quickly, Timon lowered his arms and Myla jumped out, then they both turned away from each other.

"You didn't have to catch me." Myla finally said, sounding a bit annoyed "I would've been fine."

Well, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to fall." Timon said, sounding less annoyed then her.

"Well, thanks." she answered. She didn't sound so annoyed this time.

There was a slight moment of silence before Myla spoke again. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys later." Then she rushed up her tree.

Pumbaa looked up at the tree. "Uh, Timon, what was that?"

Timon looked over at Pumbaa, "What?" he answered.

"Well, you and Myla were sort of...jumpy."

"Jumpy? Why would ya say that?"

"When she fell, and you caught her, you both seemed a little embarrassed."

"What? Why would we be embarrassed? I mean, I guess she could be embarrassed, since she fell off and wouldn't let me help her. But I wouldn't...didn't feel embarrassed. Why would I?"

Timon realized the answer to his question almost right after asking it. "Oh, wait, I know what your thinking. No, I do not like her. Ok, yeah, I do. But not in the way you're thinking!"

Pumbaa just smiled and stood up." You know, Timon, I could probably go find the bird guy on my own." he said. "Then you can go ahead and do other things."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Just in case you wanted to spend time with anyone else besides me."

Pumbaa smiled at Timon, slowly he got what Pumbaa was saying. He did have this silent urge to spend more time with Myla, he still wasn't sure what it was. But also there was Pumbaa. If he were to spend more time with Myla, would that take away from their time? Pumbaa did seem to be saying it was ok.

"Well, would you be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Pumbaa answered. "I'll see you later."

"Ok." Timon said as Pumbaa walked off. He did think this was weird, Pumbaa doing this for him. He sort of wished Pumbaa was still there, since he was now alone under Myla's tree. He was now beginning to feel nervous when he called up to Myla.

"Hey, Myla!"

Like before, she called back down without him seeing her. "What? Timon? I thought you guys left?"

"Well, Pumbaa did. Its just me now. I was just wondering...Hey, can you come down here for this?"

"Uh, why?"

"I don't want to have to keep yelling."

"Why stop now? You do it so much, I thought you enjoyed yelling."

"Why is it always so hard to get you to come out of that tree?"

"What, you don't like that? Because its really fun for me!" Then she began to climb down.

As she came down into Timon's sight he felt that maybe it would be easier to do this if she were in the tree where he couldn't see her. She finished climbing and landed on the ground. She looked over at him. "Well, you got me down here." she said, smiling a little.

"What's up?"

"Ok, um. Myla, we do know some things about each other, but I thought maybe we could learn more. I was just wondering, if you wanted to we could spend some time, and take a walk or something." Ugh, why were there words so hard to form? She must think he was an idiot, he sure did. But, why did he care what she thought anyway? This was getting overwhelming, he half-wanted to bang his head on a large rock, but that would be even more stupid.

"Ok, that sounds nice." Myla answered. "Where?"

Timon stopped thinking about how stupid he might be looking and said, "I dunno, probably just walk around."


	6. Myla's Trust

When they started off, Timon did try to get Myla to talk some, about anything. But she seemed like she didn't have many stories to tell, or none she wanted to share. He was finding it easier to get her to laugh. He was telling her of another time he and Simba and Pumbaa had shared. Then, as they were passing under a strangely familiar waterfall, he noticed how the setting sun reflecting on the falling water illuminated her face, but then he cleared his mind of that. Thoughts like that were sappy, and dangerous if he wanted to avoid this whole "love" business. For some reason he kept finding this difficult. But then he remembered he was telling a story and quickly finished.

"Then when Pumbaa got out the bubbles stopped! I looked over at Simba, said "I'm out" and he goes "Right behind ya." and we both get out of the water as fast as possible!"

They both had a good laugh at this, then Myla spoke up. "Well, that was a good story. But really, it is great for you guys, being so close."

"Yeah, they're both great friends, Pumbaa is still my best friend, though."

Night had fallen, and Timon again found himself in another familiar place. They were now in a open, grassy area that Pumbaa, Simba, and he would lay together and look at the night sky. Timon mentioned this, and to his surprise Myla flopped down on the grass.

"You use to do this? I did too, with my mother. Just go out on warm nights and look up at the stars."

"The what?" Timon said as he layed down on the grass next to Myla. (close, but not too close)

"Those sparkly dots, they're called "stars". Or that's what my mother called them."

This confused Timon, he had always thought his firefly theory was the right explanation for those twinkly lights. However, he did vaguely remember Simba saying something about "stars".

Myla continued, "She told me that if I ever felt alone, that I should look at the stars, and I would know that I wasn't. That she was with me. But that was right before..."

"Before what?" Timon asked. "This is the most you've talked all this time, don't stop now."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about being so quiet."

"Its ok. Now, before what?"

"No, you don't wanna know."

Well, I'm asking, that means I'm interested." Then Timon remembered something. "You never did tell me why you left your old colony. I mean, I know you didn't fit in...what?"

He turned on his side to face her. "if you don't want to tell me, I guess that's fine."

"No, its ok." she said. Then Timon listened as she, reluctantly, began. "My mother lived in a colony run by this female who reserved breeding rights for herself. She wouldn't let any of the other females have pups, but then my mother had me. After I was born, she could have killed me, but my mother pleaded to her and she grudgingly left me alive. We were both outcasts after that. We were always left behind when they would migrate, and we would have to track them down, we wouldn't be protected when storms and things came up, things like that. Then my mother got sick, and she died. Soon after that the colony migrated again, but I didn't know how to find them, so I was alone. I was like that for a long time, I guess I was used to it by the time I found your colony. Even though she knew what our colony had done to us, my mother still told me that being in one was the safest place to be even if you're on the outskirts. So I joined yours and your mom's, for her sake. But by then, I didn't really know how to be around other meerkats, so the new colony ignored me, all except Kavie. She was my first friend, besides my mother."

She stopped for a moment. Then noticed Timon looking at her. "Oh, great. I knew I shouldn't have told you this. Don't pity me, ok? I don't need pity."

Timon quickly changed his facial expression. He had been starting to feel sorry for her. "Ok, sorry I brought it up."

There was a pause while they both looked back up at the stars.

"So," Timon said. "I guess this means you trust me now."

"What?" said Myla.

"Didn't you say the reason you weren't telling me about that stuff was that you didn't trust me yet?"

"Yeah, Something like that. So, I guess yes."

He turned back over to face her. "You know, Myla." he began. He wanted to say something in light of her recent revelation. Something that said he didn't feel sorry for her, but he was sorry. And maybe something that told her that he did like her. As a friend, of course. "You're...alright."

Myla laughed softly at this. Then she turned over to face him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yeah." Timon answered.

"Well, you're alright too." she said. Then she began to sit up. "And, I think you're...fun."

"Heh heh, you're fun too." He sat up and they both smiled, then after a moment Timon jumped up. "Whoa, it must be really late." She stood up and they began walking back. "Lets get you back to your tree then we can both get some sleep."

Myla quickly looked at Timon quizzically. It took a second for him to realize why.

"Oh, you know what I meant."


	7. Max's Deal

Leaving Timon under the now familiar figure of Myla's tree, Pumbaa began walking in the hopes that Simba's hornbill assistant would have come yet. The walk was surprisingly dull until he thought he heard someone behind him. "Surely Timon hasn't chickened out", he thought as he turned himself around. But when he saw the meerkat that was behind him, he smiled, surprised. This meerkat hadn't been seen around in a little while.

"Well hi, Uncle Max!"

"Hey there, Pumbaa." Uncle Max said. He looked tired and a little careworn, but happy to see the warthog.

"Oh," Pumbaa corrected himself, "Am I allowed to call you Uncle Max?"

"Um...I guess."

"Great! So, where have you been? We haven't seen you in around a week."

"What, you think my world revolves around all of you? I have my own life!" He chuckled a little, then caved. "Alright, listen. A while back I got the bad idea to go cliff diving. I dunno, it sounded good in theory. Anyway, I finally decided to do it. But I don't think I picked the best place to try it out. The first few seconds after I jumped everything seemed to go fine, but then I thought that maybe I forgot to take into consideration how deep the water was. Long story short, I hit my head on a rock, somehow floated downstream, regained consciousness, and I've been spending the last week trying to get back here. Pretty stupid, I know."

"Well...at least that's an interesting story." Pumbaa said. "I bet everyone will enjoy it."

"I guess you're right." Uncle Max said. "But anyway, what's been going on here? Not much, I bet."

Then Uncle Max noticed something. "Hey, where's Timon? Aren't you usually attached at the hip?"

Pumbaa wasn't really sure how much Uncle Max knew of Myla, but when he had finished Uncle Max looked a little miffed.

"Why would Kavie do a thing like that? Timon doesn't need to be looking for a female, at least not yet. I mean, look at me! I don't have a female, and I'm doing just fine."

Then he thought back to his recent cliff diving incident.

"Ok, never mind. Bad example. But anyway, this isn't good. Its gonna be like Leo and Kavie all over again, you just see.

I mean, I've met this Myla, she's a very nice girl once ya get her out in the open. And I love Kavie as much as a guy can love his brother's mate, even if she does coddle the boy a little too much. Still, I'm sure its gonna be the same in this case. Him and her will get together, you'll have a falling out, then you won't speak until he's at his deathbed and he asks you to help raise his kid."

Pumbaa was shocked to hear this. "Is that what happened with you and Timon's dad?"

Uncle Max then went from miffed to regretful and disheartened. He looked away from Pumbaa and slumped down to sit on a log. This apparently was not the topic Uncle Max had planned on discussing when he ran into Pumbaa.

"That's pretty much the gist. Leo and I were close as two brothers should be. I was still older but we treated each other as equals. We grew up being best friends, but as we grew I guess our priorities grew different. I was very close to being given a special digging position in the colony. It wasn't a big thing, but it was a step up. Like always I had expected Leo to follow me into the job, like he had before so we could stay together. Of course then he met Kavie, and he seemed like a totally different guy. Always wanting to spend time with her, talking about her incessantly when we actually did get to. Then, he finally said that he didn't want to be a digger with me. He said he wanted to find another place in the colony for himself. It took a lot from me not to blame Kavie for this, especially when he said he wanted to be her mate. I said he was too young, and they didn't have a clue. We had a big fight and we didn't speak for a long time. Not until after Timon was born. Shortly after he was attacked by hyenas. He got away, but it didn't look good. Kavie found me and brought me too him. Neither of us apologized for the fight or said either was wrong. Come to think of it, we didn't even mention the fight. He just looked up at me and asked me to help Kavie raise Timon, that he's need a male role model. I didn't think I was the best male to be modeled after, but I didn't have time to argue that point, because then he was gone, my little brother."

They both went quiet. Pumbaa almost wished he hadn't asked. This really wasn't what he wanted to talk about when he ran into Uncle Max.

"This love stuff is a sad business. I don't think it can end any other way. Sure I helped Kavie with Timon, and we're friends now, but I still remember why. Because of that promise, and its because of that I don't want Timon ending up with a story like that. I don't want you and him to end up like that."

Pumbaa didn't want to upset Uncle Max any more than he already was. He really regretted this now. That was so terrible, they really never spoke again? Until Leo was dying? Pumbaa couldn't believe it was love that did that. Maybe fear, even jealousy, but not love.

_Author's Note: hey, if I had waited to submit this tomorrow, it will have been exactly one month since I submitted ch. 6!_

_I know it has been a while(and this is a short chapter), but I submitted ch.six on my first day of school. So I've been really busy. I had half of this chapter written then revised it and moved some of it to ch. 8 (or 9, I'm thinking this can go to 10.)_

_I am really sorry if its not as good as it once was, but I'm still trying my hardest because I love my story and these characters. :-)_


	8. Confrontation

"Look, I'm sorry to go all heavy on ya, its just...ugh"

Then Uncle Max muttered some inaudible words, clearly still getting out his feelings of frustration and sadness.

Uncle Max's story was still registering with Pumbaa. Though he understood how Max could be sad that Leo wasn't spending as much time with him as they used to, he still didn't understand why it should have mattered. The three of them could have spent time together, surely. He still was confused, but now he knew Uncle Max's side of a story that Timon hadn't even told him, maybe even one that Timon didn't know completely.

"So, " Uncle Max tried again to return to normal. "We're ya going somewhere when I found ya or were ya just walking around?"

Pumbaa thought, between telling Uncle Max what had been happening then listening to him he had forgotten.

"Oh, yeah. Its been a while since the bird guy showed up, so I was going back to see if maybe he had come today."

"Ok. I'll come along if that's alright. Maybe we'll find Kavie, I'm gonna have a few words with her."

Pumbaa consented and they went back towards the lake.

They found the blue bird as he was landing close to the lake. The bird dusted himself off and stretched his wings as he looked around. He spotted Pumbaa and addressed him.

"Ah yes, Mr. Pumbaa. I've been looking for you and Mr. Timon."

"Oh, hi. You know, you don't have to call us "Mr.", Mr...um..." Pumbaa said, still not able to recall the bird's name.

"Zazu. Majordomo to King Simba. We've met before."

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't remember your name."

"That's quite alright. But never mind. I am here to announce that the heir to the Pridelands, born of King Simba and Queen Nala, will be presented to all in five days." Zazu said, as if he'd memorized this last bit from a speech. He then dropped the formality. "Also, since you are friends and special guests of Simba, he asked me to tell you that you would need to leave in four days to make it to the Pridelands by early in the morning."

"Four days." Pumbaa repeated the information. "That's great!"

"I am also prepared to escort you and Timon if you wished."

"No that's fine. Thank you for coming. Do you need to leave right away?" Pumbaa asked.

"Well, I do need some rest, but I can't stay too long. I need to be back by nightfall." said Zazu.

"Ok. Hey, Zazu. Have you met Timon's Uncle Max?"

Then Pumbaa turned to look at Uncle Max, but he didn't see him. Uncle Max wasn't anywhere around. He'd apparently gone off looking for Timon's mom, and by the shouts that were now reaching Pumbaa's and Zazu's ears, he'd apparently found her.

"...Why did you do that, Kavie!? Timon doesn't need to be looking for mates!" They heard Max yell.

"Maybe he needs to. I just want to see my son happy." They heard Timon's mom answer.

They headed towards the voices until they found Timon's mom and Uncle Max.

"And him getting with a female is gonna do that?" Uncle Max asked.

"Maybe."

"Isn't he happy now? Aren't things going well now? Kavie, a female will only mess everything up!"

"Oh, because females _always_ mess everything up!"

"Um, on second thought," said Zazu nervously," I think I've rested enough. I'll see you and Timon in five days, Pumbaa!" He then flew away leaving Pumbaa still watching and listening to Max and Timon's mom.

"Oh, don't try to turn this around on me!" Uncle Max continued the fight.

"No, I'm going to. We both know this isn't about Timon."

"Yes it is. It's about the fact that Timon may not want to be getting a mate. Or if he does, I'm sure he can pick one on his own!"

"No Max, this is about how you don't believe in love."

"Don't give me that!"

"You seem to think of love as this big inconvenience. That if it happens then everything will change. Well, that's only half true. Sure love can change someone, it can sometimes change circumstances, but mostly it makes things better."

Before Max could reply to this, Timon's mom started again. "I know what you're thinking, "How was it better with Leo?", right? Max, couldn't you see that he hadn't changed? He had always followed you into things because he wasn't sure of what he wanted. He had finally figured out that he needed to look for it on his own when he met me. _I _certainly didn't do anything."

"I don't blame you." Max said, halfheartedly.

"I actually think you do, a little. But its ok. I know you never want to talk about it, and its hard not to look for someone to blame when bad things happen. Neither of us are to blame for Leo's death. But I really think that you should have accepted Leo's choices. We could have all been happy together."

Timon's mom gave Uncle Max time to reply again, but he was silent. So she continued.

"You know, I hate to admit it, and I bet Timon does too, but you two are the same when it comes to this subject. Timon doesn't seem to believe in love either. I'm sure he learned that from you. I know, in a small way, he looks up to you. You _are_ the male he grew up closest to, something was bound to sink in from you."

Uncle Max looked like he was thinking intently, absorbing what was just said. "Well, what am I supposed to do?" he finally said.

"Tell Timon that its ok for him to be in love, if he finds it. Even if Myla's not the one. He needs to know that things may change a little, but he'll always have us and his friends."

"I'm not gonna do that. I don't even believe it myself."

At these words, Timon's mother looked at the ground and shook her head. She then walked off, saying only "You should." as she was leaving.

"You know what?" Uncle Max said to Pumbaa. "I don't even know why I'm worrying. Timon's an oddball, but he's not stupid. It won't get serious with him and Myla, he'll see what's going on. Then he'll understand, she will too."

Pumbaa wasn't really sure what Uncle Max was saying. He couldn't really understand how even after what Timon's mom had said, Uncle Max still seemed to believe that Timon loving Myla (or anybody _that_ way) was a path to sadness. He did seem sure that it wouldn't work out. Pumbaa was now convinced that he'd need to observe Timon and Myla together more closely, to see if he was right or if Uncle Max was. Maybe he could also talk with Myla some more.

Also, he added as an afterthought, he'd need to watch Uncle Max and Timon's mom as well, in case any more of these fights rose up.

-:-

When the next day came Pumbaa was up early to wait for Timon, he'd wanted to know about the things he and Myla had done in his absence the night before. He knew Timon would probably not be up for a while, but when he saw Timon's mom sitting at the usual meeting place near the lake (obviously waiting for Timon like he'd planned on) he was more ok with his decision.

"Is Timon up yet?" she asked when Pumbaa walked over and sat down.

"No, I haven't seen him." said Pumbaa.

"I figured as much. He's probably still sleeping."

"Probably, why?"

"Well, I'd like to know what he was doing yesterday. When I saw you alone I assumed...well, hoped...that Timon was spending a little time with Myla."

"Actually, he was."

"Oh! Now I definitely want to know what he was doing!" she said in an excited, motherly way.

"I hope they were doing something nice, I wonder..." then she trailed off, she had thought of something.

"Pumbaa, were you ok with being by yourself yesterday?"

"Um, yes." The question had surprised him a little, since it sounded like something Timon had asked him.

"Because you know, if this ever happens again and your by yourself, you could always spend time with Max and I for a while. Well, Max and I separately I mean. I'm not too fond of him right now, I plan on having another talk with him today after I see Timon."

"That's nice of you. I might keep that in mind."

It was a good while before Timon actually showed up. Pumbaa even left a few times and came back. Finally, they saw him emerge from his sleeping area and come up to join them.

"Oh, hello Timon." his mom said trying to sound casual, but the excited, motherly smile reappeared on her face. Timon seemed to notice this.

"Hi Ma. Did Pumbaa tell you about yesterday?" He looked over at Pumbaa

"What'd you tell her?"

"He just told me that you and Myla were spending a little time alone." Timon's mom said.

Timon looked relieved that she hadn't blown this out of proportion. "Ok, before you ask...both of ya...we didn't really do anything. We just walked around some and talked a little. That's it."

Then he changed the subject so that maybe his mother wouldn't ask for a more detailed account.

"So Pumbaa, did you find the bird guy yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah Timon. He said we'd need to leave in four days, its three days now. Oh, and his name is Zazu."

"Ok, three days, sounds good." Timon said. "Anything else?"

"I don't think so." Pumbaa said.

"Alright, then lets get going." Timon was ready to go, still wanting to avoid telling his mom too much about the night before.

"Is Myla coming with you today?" Timon's mom asked before they had a chance to get away.

"Uh, I guess so." said Timon. But then he thought of something.

"Hey Ma, before we leave, did Myla tell you anything about how she came to our colony?"

Timon's mom looked at him, thinking. "Well, about how she wasn't accepted. It was sad that it seemed to continue when she came to our colony. Not really much else. Why?"

"Um...no reason, just wanted to know. See ya later, Ma."

"Ok...bye Sweetie. Bye Pumbaa."

-:-:-:-

_Author's Note: I think this chapter is longer than the last, yay. Anyway, I hope you like this whole part with Uncle Max, and maybe you'll pick up on some stuff. ;-)_

_After reading Narfy's Memiors of a BlueBird I really wanted to get Zazu in the story, even for a cameo. He originally was just going to be mentioned, but I'm happy with his place in the ch. I kind of thought we'd been away from Timon a little too long, so I brought him back this ch instead of ch. 9._

_Hope everyone is still enjoying my story. I'm still enjoying writing it!_


	9. That Other L word

As he walked along side Pumbaa, Timon was contemplating what his mother had just told him.

It was the same thought that had entered his mind since she had told him that Myla hadn't divulged a lot of information on her past to her. He just couldn't understand why. His mom would have been the perfect one to confide in. She was kind, she listened, she sympathized, she helped (or tried anyway).

Then there was the added bonus that she had been Myla's first friend outside her own mother when she came to the colony. So why not tell her? And more importantly, why tell him? The trust thing? But surely she would trust his mom more than him...it didn't make sense to him.

He was taken out of his pondering by Pumbaa, who was obviously waiting to ask the question that Timon already knew he would ask.

"So...what did you do yesterday with Myla?"

"How did I know you were gonna ask me that? How about this, you tell me what you did yesterday, _then _I'll tell ya what I did."

Pumbaa immediately thought of the story Uncle Max had told him. He still wasn't sure Timon had even heard it. He didn't feel like he should be the one to tell it, so he decided to tell a condensed version of the day.

"Um...ok. I ran into your uncle Max. Then we went to find Zazu and I got the information from him. Then Max went to see your mom. That was about it."

It was now Timon's turn, and he was beginning to regret this little deal, but this was Pumbaa. His best friend. He was able to tell him anything.

So he began, he talked about how they had walked and talked, mostly about Timon. Not because he was being conceited, but because Myla didn't seem to want to open up. Although she still was friendly and still herself.

When he got to when they were star-gazing, he paused. Mostly because Pumbaa would probably read too much into it, (although that _was_ a favorable part of the evening, one that Timon had been thinking back too since it occurred)

but also because he wasn't sure if it would betray the trust that seemed so important to Myla if he told Pumbaa about what she had said.

"Then we I noticed that we were in that place that Simba, you , and I used to look at the sky at night. She said that she...that she used to do that, then she flopped down on the ground. So I did too, and did you know those things in the sky are called "stars?"

"Yes, Simba told us that. Remember?" said Pumbaa.

This made Timon feel even more stupid than he had when he learned this the previous night.

"So, was that all you guys did?"

"Well, yeah." said Timon. "Did you expect anything else?"

"I guess not."

Timon did want to know what Pumbaa thought about why Myla had told him. Maybe if he just asked in a general sense, he wouldn't need to divulge any of the actual story.

"Hey, Pumbaa. If someone tells you something that they haven't told anyone, not even someone that they've known for longer than you, what does that mean?"

"Um... what?" asked Pumbaa.

Ok, generalizing wasn't working, Timon had even confused himself. Maybe there was no harm in just saying a little, nothing that seemed extremely private.

He sighed, and then said, "Myla told me something last night. I thought that maybe she'd have told my Ma, but apparently she didn't. She has this whole thing about trust, and I understand that, but wouldn't she have trusted her more than me?"

To his relief, Pumbaa didn't ask him what she'd said. But of course it wouldn't have been very like Pumbaa to do so.

He merely said, "Maybe she just trusts you more."

Big help that was. Still, he was glad Pumbaa was helping him, it was still driving him crazy.

-+-+-+-

For some reason, it took Myla a little while to come down after they had announced that they were there, but she finally descended from the branches after a few minutes.

"Sorry, guys." she said as she turned to greet them. "Hi, Pumbaa." she said in a friendly voice. Then she paused.

"Hi, Timon"

"Hi." Timon said. This was stupid, why were words failing him now? So suddenly? They obviously weren't failing her, because then she asked,

"So, where do you want to go today?" to apparently both of them.

"We could always go back to that big rock with all the moss on it." suggested Pumbaa.

"Uh-uh, we were just there a few days ago." Myla said.

Timon had now regained the power of speech. "What's wrong with that?"

"We pretty much picked it clean then, so they're wouldn't be a lot of bugs there. Why don't we try somewhere else, like near that waterfall we passed yesterday?"

That actually seemed like a valid point, but fighting with Myla was seeming easier than talking to her.

"Well, we could at least check out the rock Pumbaa mentioned. Just to see, right?"

"Fine," she said. "But I'm telling you, nothing's gonna be there. At least, nothing that will feed all three of us."

Then she looked behind Timon and Pumbaa, "Well, hi, Kavie." she said, confused at seeing Timon's mom.

Timon and Pumbaa looked around and, sure enough, Timon's mom was walking up to them.

"Hello, Myla. Hello, Pumbaa." she said. Then she turned to her son. "Timmy, I'm sorry, but can you come with me for a little while today?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Uncle Max is back, and I was going to talk with him for a while, and I thought that you might want to talk to him, too."

"Again, I gotta ask why, Ma?"

"Because you haven't seen your uncle in a while and...will you just come? Please?"

"You go ahead and go with your mom, Timon." said Myla.

"Ok." Timon said in a bemused way. Then he looked over at Pumbaa and Myla. "If its not one thing, its another. Huh? Hehe. So, what are you guys gonna do?"

"Oh, we're gonna go look for bugs at that waterfall." Myla said, seeming happy to be getting her way. "That's ok, right Pumbaa?"

"Yeah, I guess." Pumbaa answered. "Is that ok, Timon?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm not going to be there. I'll just catch up with you later."

-+-+-+-

The walk over to the spot near the waterfall had been almost awkwardly quiet. Since Timon was the more talkative of the Timon and Pumbaa team, and Myla, though she knew Pumbaa, still didn't know that much about him. It didn't occur to her until they had reached the waterfall that actually talking and asking questions would help that situation.

"So Pumbaa," Myla said as they munched on some water beetles they had found. "How did you come to be here? I mean, I know how you met Timon and all. Just, what about before then?"

"Well, there's not really that much to tell. I just didn't really have a lot of friends when I was younger. I don't think I had any real friends actually, until I met Timon."

"Why didn't you have many friends?" Pumbaa was such a friendly creature, Myla couldn't really picture it.

Pumbaa looked a little embarrassed. "Um...I...sort of have this little problem. It really caused most of my social problems, and I've been trying to keep from doing it in your presence."

This made Myla think that maybe she had asked too much. She decided not to press further on what this problem could be. She merely thought about how their stories had all seemed similar.

"Huh, I guess we're all a bunch of outcasts. You, Timon, and me."

"Yeah."

She looked up at him from the beetle she was holding. "He didn't tell you much about yesterday, did he?"

"No, not too much."

"Good. I mean, I wouldn't want him to keep anything from you, you're his best friend. It's just...I kind of told him something, something private. I'm not even sure why, now. I guess I felt he'd know about some of it, like he'd understand."

She looked a little far away, but then snapped herself back to continue eating. It was this little look that made Pumbaa look quizzically at her.

"You really like him, don't you?" he asked.

This question caught Myla off guard. Wasn't Kavie the one that was trying to set them up? Why was Pumbaa wanting to know this? Ah, the best friend thing, she realized. Thinking quickly, she did what anyone would do when asked this question, she denied it.

"What? No." she said. Realizing that that had not even convinced herself, she added to it. "No. I mean, as a friend I guess. But you know, sometimes he just infuriates me. He's always looking for an argument. Its like he just waits for things to fight about! Plus he's kind of lazy, he's immature, and he's always cracking some lame joke. And he always wants to be right, he hates to be proven wrong. "I'm sorry" are apparently two hard words for him to say..."

She had been on a roll but stopped herself. She had been naming his faults, and she could have gone longer, but she thought that maybe she should say some favorable things about him, so Pumbaa wouldn't think she despised him, of course.

"...But he is a good friend, and I guess he tells those jokes because he loves making us laugh. And some of them are funny. He's also pretty kind, and nice. He listens, and is concerned. He's intelligent, and passionate, I betcha he can be a mama's boy, but he genuinely seems to care about his friends and his family.

Also, when your with him, you don't really know what's going to happen. Even on a boring, nothing day he seems to make it better, just by saying or doing something fun, or stupid. He has this energy, it makes you feel...like you could do anything."

"Wow." she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all of that."

Pumbaa just blinked, then smiled. "You should tell him that."

"Yeah, um no. I shouldn't have even told you."

"But you do like him. That kind of even sounded like you more than like him."

"I can't believe I told you all that. I can't believe I _said_ all of that! I really _do_ like him." This was still registering with her. How could she like him? When did this happen? He was completely stupid, and yet she wanted to be with him all the time.

But now that she knew, how was she supposed to act around him?

" Only..."

"What?"

"Only, now what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe, tell him?" It was the second time Pumbaa had suggested it. Such a simple solution, but it seemed completely crazy to Myla.

"No way. That is not gonna happen. Right now I'm thinking about how to not act weird around him with just me knowing. What would I do if he knew too? No, doing that is just gonna change everything."

That sounded familiar to Pumbaa. "But it seems like things have already changed, a little. When we first met you, you were so guarded and sharp. But your softer now. You trust more now, you let yourself have friends and show them that you're really nice. Do you think Timon had something to do with that?"

That sounded a little mushy to Myla, but still true. She had changed, opened up some. All of her new friends had helped her. Kavie, Pumbaa, and Timon. Still, she felt different around Timon than the others, maybe it was even that other L-word. But that was a little too far for her to contemplate right now. She was still accepting _liking_ him, that other word would have to wait. It was still a pretty big thing to consider.

"Well, maybe I could...say something." she said finally.

-+-+-+-

Timon had absolutely no idea what was going on. Why did his mom need him to come with her? He could see Uncle Max later, there had to be another reason.

But there they were, walking over to Uncle Max, who looked like he had been dragged to this little meeting by Timon's mom as well.

Once his mom had sat him down, she started explaining.

"Ok, Timon. I'm sorry to have to drag you away from your friends, but it seems to me that we have a little problem."

"There is no problem. What are you telling him there's a problem for?" Uncle Max interrupted.

"Max, there is a small problem. You may not think so, but it is there. Now be quiet, you'll get your turn.

Timmy, I am really thankful that you are giving Myla a chance, and I'm glad that things are going so well with you two."

Now Timon was interrupting, "Going so well? How do you mean? We're just friends, Ma."

"Timon, I really think its clear that you like her. Not just what Pumbaa's told me, and don't worry he doesn't tell me much, but the way you act around her and talk about her sometimes..."

"Its foolish is what it is." Max said, again interrupting, but Timon's mom ignored him.

"But the thing is that, well, you never seemed to trust love. I know its not your favorite subject, mostly because of what you picked up from him. (she indicated Uncle Max) But I thought, maybe if you heard it from him, you might listen and it might help."

"Kavie, why in the world would me saying something like that help him?" Max said.

"Because he seems to listen to you on this kind of thing."

"Um, hi. Can we not talk about "he" like "he" is not right here?" Timon said.

"Now I really don't think I've picked up anything from Uncle Max."

"But you have, Timon. You hate change so much, any change. Even if its good sometimes you think of how will affect something else good in your life, and he's the same way. This makes you both try to keep everything from changing, so as to not rock the boat when you feel everything is perfect. You went off to find this place, and I don't know why you didn't realize that that was a big, scary change. For you, and for everyone, but it turned out to be wonderful."

"Ok, enough with the therapy session!" Uncle Max said.

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't be afraid of something as great as love, with Myla, or anyone that you pick."

"But what about his friend? Won't being all lovey with her hurt the his friendship with Pumbaa?"

"Not if they're true friends, and they are. Pumbaa would be happy for them and not feel bad if they wanted to do something alone for a bit, and Timon would make sure his best friend was included in much of what they all did."

"Then why wasn't it like that with Leo?" Uncle Max's voice was growing angry. "We were brothers, closer than friends!"

"Why does it always come back to that with you, Max? Are you still not prepared to let go of this silly anger about something that happened so long ago? Your nephew is going through a similar situation and all you can do is keep bringing up your painful memories. Honestly, sometimes I think maybe you were jealous of Leo."

"What!? Jealous!? See Timon, this is exactly what females do, they're manipulative."

"Manipulative? Well, with this kind of thinking, I'm not surprised Timon is so confused about these things!"

Timon began thinking that if he were to walk away right now, they might not even notice. This whole "liking Myla" concept was definitely crazy. He had made sure that his feelings for her were merely friendly. Though there was the fact that he was thinking about her progressively more for a while now. That, he had thought at the time, was just because she was around more, and that was how he was actually preferring it. But no, he couldn't afford to have their relationship change, and yet...Well, Timon was certain that if any answers needed to be found, his mother and Uncle Max might not be the best ones to ask right now.

-+-+-+-

Myla could not believe that she was going to do this. She knew that this could possibly mess everything up, telling Timon, but with that bit of help from Pumbaa, she had hyped herself up. Still, there was a part of her that hoped she would not find Timon today, or at all.

She headed for the rock that Pumbaa had suggested they go to, thinking that when he was finished with his mom he would, of course, go to the place he'd wanted to go to. But she ran into him on route, apparently heading for the waterfall.

"Timon? Aren't you supposed to be with your mom and uncle?" she said.

Timon looked over his shoulder, then back at her, and smiled. "I kinda just snuck away. They were fighting and talking about...well, about stuff I don't really openly talk about with them. Where's Pumbaa?"

"He's back at the waterfall." She better do it now, get it over with. Why was she so nervous? Was this how it was always going to feel around him now? She had to calm herself, it would be easier to do when she was calm.

"I need to talk to you first, ok?"

"Uh, ok." said Timon, looking confused.

Alright, here goes, she wasn't going to be mushy about it, but she was going to be truthful.

"Timon, I'm really glad that I've gotten to know you over this time, and I've really come to trust you. More than I trust a lot of others, I realized. I realize also that that trust has also formed into something else. I realized that I like you, more than I thought I would."

"Yeah, I like you too." he said casually.

Oh, great, he didn't get it. She'd have to elaborate.

"No, more than that. More like the other L-word."

"Wait, what?" he said, now sounding more alert.

"I sort of...love you." Why did that sound so stupid coming from her?

"What!?" Timon was now sounding mad for some reason, not the reaction she was wanting. "No you don't!"

"Yeah, I do." she said it a little louder, but she didn't sound mad.

"This is crazy. First I have this weird talk with Ma and Uncle Max about... the L-word, and now you're saying it to me! What is with the sudden fascination with it!? You can't just go around using that word without it meaning something, right!?"

"Well, this is how I feel. You don't think it was hard for me to tell you? I have never said that to really anyone other than my mother."

"I only say it about my Ma, too! But it has a different meaning if I'm talking about...a female that's not my Ma!"

"I know that."

"What am I supposed to say now?"

"How about you love me too?"

"Myla, I barely even know what that word means when you use it like that!"

'I know what you're doing, you're afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of what it means and what will happen. You don't think I'm afraid too? But at least I'm being open, this is as open as I've ever been."

"Why do have to drop this on me now?"

Now Myla looked hurt. "Well I'm sorry I "dropped" this on you. I thought maybe if I told you, that maybe you felt like this too. Apparently I was stupid to think that."

Then Myla ran off in the direction of her tree. Leaving Timon standing there, stunned and deflated.

-+-+-+-+-+-

_Author's Note: Yeah, this was a long one, took me a while to get right. Hope you all are still enjoying. Happy Halloween! I guess this can be your treat from me, though I was excited about finally getting to this chapter, so a treat for me as well:-)_


	10. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Timon didn't know what he was going to do now. He just stood there, stunned and frustrated.

After a few moments he still didn't know what he was going to do, but he did know what he was not going to do. He was not going after her again, not this time. She could run off in a huff all she wanted, he was not going to handle this, at least not now.

After a while, he finally decided to continue on to the waterfall. He kept trying to clear his head, but for once he just couldn't. Maybe Pumbaa could help.

He found Pumbaa resting in the shade by the water, almost asleep. Half because he'd been waiting for Timon or Myla to come back for a while, and half because he might have eaten a little too much.

As Timon reached him he sat up and looked around, he had probably heard Timon coming.

"Timon?" Pumbaa said when he saw him, noticing that his friend looked, at the least, troubled. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry I took so long, pal." Timon began. It seemed like Timon was having to recount a lot of events to Pumbaa lately, confirming his thoughts that things really had changed. Nevertheless, he immediately launched into what had just happened with Myla.

"Why, Pumbaa? Why would she say that stuff?"

"Because that's how she feels." said Pumbaa.

"Yeah, I know. But _why_?

"Well, you did need to know."

"No I didn't! Especially not after coming back from one of the weirdest conversations I have ever had with my mother and uncle!"

"But Timon, she didn't know what you had just been doing."

Timon paused, "I guess that's true."

"What were you and your mom and uncle talking about?" Pumbaa asked, changing the subject for a second.

"Oh, just my Ma talking to me about feelings and saying that I was acting like Uncle Max. I swear I think everybody has just gone crazy over that stupid L-word, and just because I don't want to use it towards anybody but Ma because I know that it changes everything and I don't want things to change doesn't mean I'm acting like Max!"

"Um, I don't think its changed everything." said Pumbaa after a minute.

"Oh, come on Pumbaa!" Timon began to yell.

"No, really." Pumbaa said. "I mean, I don't know what your mom said, but what Myla was talking about were things that I think have been going on for a while, with her and you."

"What?" Timon said. "Are you saying you think_ I _like _her_?" He then felt a twinge of uneasiness as he considered this.

"...Ok, maybe I do. But still, why did she then use...that other word?"

"Would you have understood her if she's said "like?""

"Well...no. She said that first."

They continued on like this, with Timon still not able to understand. They walked home to go to sleep in silence.

Timon tried again to just clear his mind, to not think about any of this, and not about what Myla was doing.

* * *

Timon couldn't sleep, he just couldn't. 

He tried everything, and _everywhere_ that he could think of. When he couldn't sleep on the stump he and Pumbaa still sometimes shared, he tried in his hammock. No luck there either. He even tried up in a tree. He thought he might as well try it, since he was getting desperate, but it was dark and he kept falling out.

The last place he tried was the rock that everyone liked to meet at. It was a very large rock, which Timon thought might be the reason they always met up there. However, he was no better off than he was at any of his other prospective sleeping spots. The rock, while large and accommodating, was very uncomfortable. Because, lets face it, its a rock. Its hard.

He sat up for what seemed like the billionth time that night, and looked out over the water, it was then he noticed a hole leading under the rock. Obviously a meerkat working off his instincts had dug it, and upon further inspection he saw it to be a good place for one last attempt at sleep. It was a little claustrophobic, and he didn't like the idea of his head being directly under a big, heavy rock, but it was dark and quiet. He felt like maybe he could finally drift off.

The new spot had obviously done the trick. When he woke up he felt cramped, but at least had gotten some sleep. He wasn't quite sure what part of the day it was, but sunlight was peeking in the small mouth of the hole partially obscured by the rock. He was getting ready to climb out when he heard voices from outside.

"Have you found him yet?" His mom's voice sounded a little worried.

"No." Pumbaa's voice answered her. He sounded slightly confused and disappointed.

"I just don't understand it, where could he be? Why isn't he anywhere?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's talking to Myla. After what happened yesterday..."

"No, no. I don't think Myla's left her tree all day." She sounded disheartened, but then switched to sounding slightly bewildered. "I can't believe Timmy did that. After all we had just talked about!" She sighed.

"Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. He still needs to talk to her, though. Myla was pretty brave to just tell him like that, its the least he can do. But we should keep looking."

Timon then heard her walk away. So they were looking for him. He decided to wait a little longer to emerge. His mother was bound to want to talk to him, and he didn't really feel like talking to anyone right now. Plus they all seemed to be on Myla's side on this for some reason. "Myla was pretty brave to tell him that"? How was that brave? Well, maybe it was, a little. She did seem to be struggling to tell him, like it was hard for her, not knowing what he'd say. Timon certainly didn't think he could just come out with it like that. If he wanted to, of course, which he didn't. A pang of guilt hit Timon as he thought this. He thought maybe he should wait a bit longer, so he could think.

He then heard footsteps again, and his Uncle Max's voice speaking to Pumbaa. "Did he show up yet?"

"No." Pumbaa said, in the same voice as he had answered Timon's mom.

"Well, I need to find him. I gotta talk to him."

"No one's seen him all day. I hope he's ok."

"He's probably fine. Look, Pumbaa. I was hoping to tell Timon this, but you could probably tell him for me, right?"

"Um, I guess." Pumbaa said.

"Ok. I've been thinking, before and after I heard about yesterday from Kavie, boy that was a long morning. Anyway, I've been thinking, and maybe I was a little wrong. About love and stuff. Maybe I _was_ slightly jealous of Leo, because maybe I wanted a mate, someday. I guess the fact that it never happened for me and the fact that Leo found it so easy made me bitter towards to whole concept. Plus I thought he wouldn't be my friend as much anymore or something dumb like that. Even so, it shouldn't even matter what I think, he shouldn't model his outlook to match mine, or anyone's, he's got his own mind! He'd also be an idiot to mess up what's between him and Myla because he's afraid or something, and she'd be an idiot to forgive him if he doesn't figure it out soon."

"...Ok, Uncle Max." Pumbaa said awkwardly.

"Yeah. Just tell him that if ya see him." Uncle Max said. "Oh, and don't repeat _any _of that to Kavie. I'd never hear the end of it."

As Timon heard Uncle Max walk off, he pondered what he had said. He could possibly be over-complicating everything with his battle to make everything stay the same. Timon thought over all the things that had changed since he left his colony, everything was definitely different now than it was, and for the better. Maybe he should just make his peace with change.

Then there was the other stuff. Timon still didn't believe he learned anything from his uncle, but he might have picked up on some things, like his outlook towards love. Maybe he should accept that too.

Then his thoughts went back to Myla, and more guilt swept through him. Thinking back she did look really hurt when she ran off, and he really didn't like knowing he had hurt her. Why was that? He answered himself almost instantly.

"Because I love her." He thought. He couldn't believe he was actually thinking that, but he still knew it was true.

"Well now I have to tell her." He thought as he moved the rock a little. "I've gotta say something! ...Well, I can think of what I'm actually gonna say later. First I have to get out of this hole."

But as he was moving himself around, preparing to climb out, the earth shifted under the rock and it slid over the small hole, leaving only a crack of light.

Timon freaked out. The rock had closed over him like a tomb. He didn't have enough light and wasn't sure how long he'd have air. He started banging on the rock, and trying to pry the small space open, but it didn't work. The rock was just too big and heavy. Maybe Pumbaa hadn't left yet, Timon started to call out. But after a few minutes, he decided that everyone had left, probably to keep looking for him.

He continued to push his weight on the rock, saying, "Ok, now I hate being underground _even more_!"

He kept trying until the light had faded from the small crack. Night had fallen, and now he was hungry and exhausted, but most of all he was disconsolate. He couldn't believe he had spent the entire day under this rock, and now he was stuck. He couldn't give up, though. He had just figured out all the things he had been struggling with, and now he was supposed to be talking to Myla, telling her he loved her. But again, he was exhausted from trying to get out, and he did manage to movie the rock the tiniest bit. He decided to sleep some, he would keep trying in the morning.

* * *

The next day came and Timon remembered that the next day he was supposed to leave with Pumbaa for Pride Rock. This made him even more determined to move that rock. He _had_ to get out today, tell her today, so that everything would be ok before they left. 

He kept steadily pushing on the rock until finally, the hole was big enough for him to squeeze through. The light blinded him for a moment when he got out, and he needed to lay on the ground and rest for a bit. He also kicked the rock that had imprisoned him, hurting his foot and causing the hole to collapse in the process. Then he got back to the task at hand.

He ran quickly and purposefully towards Myla's tree, still trying to figure out what he was going to say, but he still couldn't think of anything. He put it off again, maybe he could think of something once he got there.

He passed his mom and Pumbaa. They saw him coming and he mother said, "Timon! We've been looking everywhere for..." As she was saying this, however, he passed by with a quick, "Hi Pumbaa hi Ma!"

Then he passed Uncle Max, who saw him and called out, "Hey! I need to talk to..."

But Timon sped by, saying quickly, "No time to talk heard what you said bye!"

He started slowing down as he got closer to the tree, since now a batch of anxiousness was sneaking up on him. Possibly because he still didn't know what he was gonna say.

Once he finally got there he was down to a brisk walk. He didn't call up to her immediately, instead he sat down on the ground near it. Partially because he was still needing some rest from being enclosed under a rock for hours and then running all the way there, but mostly he really wanted to think.

"Timon?"

The voice from behind him made him jump. He spun around and saw Myla.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sounding a lot like she had the first time they met.

"Ah, um." was all he could get out. "Well," he thought, "No sense beating around the bush." He took a deep breath.

"Myla, I'm sorry. I don't say that too often, but of course I've been having to say it a lot lately. Because I guess I was wrong about a lot of things. All Pumbaa, my Ma, and Uncle Max have been doing is trying to help me. But, of course I never feel like I need any help. The thing is, I should have figured this thing out with you and me earlier, but maybe I was scared like you said. I've had some time recently, and I finally got it. Myla, you are loud sometimes, which I prefer because sometimes you get too quiet, too. But you really trust me. You told me stuff you never told anyone else, and I like...love that. I can't believe you'd trust me like that, and I can't believe how much I like spending time with you and thinking about you and...I know this is gonna sound stupid when I say it, I just know it. Myla, I love you."

There was a long pause, both of them taking in what he had said.

"Well, what am I supposed to say?" Myla said after that. Timon looked questioningly at her, but then she smiled.

"Because, you already know I love you."

They both laughed softly, then started to talk about what to do now.

It was early in the morning when Pumbaa and Timon were about to leave to go to Pride Rock. They were ready to go and saying goodbye to everyone they'd miss.

Timon hugged his mother, and she made Pumbaa give her a hug too.

"You boys be careful, alright?" she said.

"We will." they both said in unison.

"And Timon, I'm waiting for my "Thank you" for introducing you to Myla."

Timon laughed, but then said, "Yeah, thanks, Ma." quietly when he hugged her again.

"See ya soon." Uncle Max said to them. "And glad you wised up." he said as he patted Timon, rather hard, on the back.

"Yeah, thanks Uncle Max. See ya." Timon said, his back now hurting.

"Bye, Myla." Pumbaa said when they got to Myla, and he hugged her, too.

"Bye, Pumbaa." she said. Then Pumbaa walked back over to Uncle Max and Timon's mom for a bit.

"Did you say thanks to your mom yet?" Myla said to Timon.

"Yes." he answered in mock annoyance. Then they smiled at each other and hugged.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?"

"Yes, I'm sure." said Myla. "I might go with you guys another time, but I need to stay here. I mean, do you really want to leave your mom and uncle all by themselves?"

They both shook their heads jokingly.

"Well, I guess that's it, then." Timon said. "I...uh...yeah."

"Yeah, "I uh yeah" you too." she said, still smiling. "You better get going, bye."

"Bye." he said before turning to Pumbaa. "Ok, Pumbaa, ready to go?"

"Yup, all ready."

Then Timon hopped onto Pumbaa's back and they waved Timon's mom, Uncle Max, and Myla once more before starting off towards the desert stretching between the jungle and Simba's home.

When they were out of the jungle Pumbaa said, "Boy, I can't wait to tell Simba what's been happening."

"_You_ tell Simba? No, no. _I'm_ gonna tell Simba." Timon said.

"Can't I tell some of it?"

"Ok, I guess. You can tell the beginning."

"The part where your mom set you up with Myla?"

"Well, you don't have to say "set up." That just sounds embarrassing."

"What can I say, then?"

"Y'know, we'll think about telling Simba about stuff later. Lets focus more on seeing that cub of his."

"yeah, I bet he looks just like Simba."

Then they continued discussing Simba and his cub until they had gotten well into the desert and the sun was sinking under the dunes, then pretty much the rest of the way there.

_

* * *

_

_Final Author's Note: Well I hope everyone enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed writing it. It took me five months to do it, but I did it!_

_I have never obsessed over a story while writing it this much before, and its never taken me this long to write a story before, either._

_Like I said, I have tried my absolute best with this story, and I think I did well. This wasn't my first fanfic ever, but it was my first Lion King one. Also my first posted on I started in July, this was the 709th Lion King fanfic up. Now there are over 770! That kind of shows me how long its been since I started, also it was summer and now its winter._

_Again, thank you so much for reading this whole fanfic, if you would all leave your final big comment on ch.10 and the story as a whole, that would be really nice._

_I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas, or Happy whatever you celebrate:-D_

_I will hopefully, because yay! I'm done!!!!_

_I might start a new story project later in the new year._

_One last time, thanks guys!_


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